The most beautiful villages of the Loire Valley are a series of villages that we find along the route through the valley on the river of the same name. On a route through the Loire Valley to visit its castles, it is also very important to see which are the most beautiful villages to stay.
The Loire River has a length of one thousand kilometers, it runs only through France being the longest river in the country. The area of the Loire Valley and its castles is known as the garden of France and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Indice:
Route through the Loire Valley
The Loire Valley area extends approximately between Nantes and Orleans, and has along the way countless towns and castles to visit.
The type of tour will depend a lot on the amount of days you have available. The route through the Loire Valley can start in Nantes and end in Orleans, or vice versa, while stopping at the end of the day in one of the villages, towns or accommodations along the way. Or, if you plan to do a tour of a few days in the valley, you can, like us, make a “base” in one of the villages and thus leave every day to different points in this valley of the Loire River.
If you are planning a tour around the valley, maybe you have already chosen which castles to visit during your trip, but… which village to stay in, which one is the most beautiful, or which one is the closest to visit the castles?
What type of visit should I make?
Let’s see what kind of visits you want to do, depending on the time to dedicate to it, your location at the time of starting the visit and the budget of course.
Guided tour from Paris
The first option, and perhaps the one you have heard the most, is to visit it by day from Paris. Some of the most popular tours depart very early in the morning from Paris and take you through the main castles of the Loire Valley with an English-speaking guide.
It is not the way I have done it, I like it more on my own, but if you have a day to spare in the city of light, and you do not dare to do it on your own, this is a very good option. That’s why we said at the beginning that the tour will depend a lot on the time available and the location at the time of starting it.
Or choose a tour with a visit to the castles and wine tasting, sounds attractive, doesn’t it?
Traveling by train from Paris
The other option is to transfer from Paris to another city near the valley by train. In this case you will probably be thinking more about staying in the area than spending just one day.
Although both can be viable options, I personally think the valley needs at least two days. You can make the trip from Paris to Orleans or Nantes, then move between cities to visit the castles.
Several of the routes to the castles can also be done by bike, it is a very nice option. I leave here the link to the website of francevelotourisme with itineraries, tour options and everything related to make the tour by bike.
Tour by car
And finally the car option. Renting a car to make a route through the Loire Valley, and staying in it is the option we chose. In this case you will manage your time depending on the number of days you will spend on the tour.
Where to stay, what are the most beautiful towns and cities?
You have the option of starting the tour in either Nantes or Orleans, and slowly making the journey day by day, stopping in the evening in one of the countless villages along the banks of the Loire, or staying in establishments on the outskirts of these villages, or even in castles. How appealing is the latter? …and why not? FIND YOUR SPECIAL ACCOMMODATION.
If you have less days, or if you have more planned, the other option is to choose a town as a base to stay for a few days and to be able to leave every day to different places and castles (this is the option we chose).
So let’s take a look at some of the options.
Villages on the Loire Valley route
ORLEANS
The first stop is Orleans. This city is at the beginning or at the end of the Loire Valley route, depending on where you start it, so it can be an option to stay either at the beginning or at the end of the route.
It is one of the oldest cities in France, and is the capital of the Centre Val de Loire Region, is located on the river bank and about 120 km from Paris.
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross of Orleans stands out in the city, and the access to it, the Jeanne d’Arc Avenue has a majesty that imposes.
Even more so the way we saw it, crossed by flags that are placed from May 8 (Joan of Arc’s feast), until the beginning of autumn.
If you visit in May you will find great festivities to the great heroine of France, Joan of Arc.
BLOIS
Continuing with the route through the Loire Valley we will visit a beautiful city. On the banks of the Loire River, between the cities of Orleans and Nantes we find Blois. It highlights the Renaissance castle built by Louis XII, the Château de Blois , this being the only castle in France that hosted in their rooms ten queens and seven kings of that country.
But beyond its castle, this city deserves a good walking tour, since walking through it will transport you to distant times.
In our case it was the one we chose to stay the days we were in the valley. We stayed at the Ibis Centre Chateaufor its proximity to the castle and the old town, as well as price, since it was quite affordable, at least when we stayed there in May.
Apart from this, if as we said, you are looking to establish a base for the tour, very close to Blois you have the castles of Chambord, Cheverny, Chenonceau, one of the most important visits in the area.
This kind of cities, where you arrive without any plan, just walking around dazzling you in every corner with something different, are the ones that catch you the most.
As the Saint Louis Cathedral dazzles, its construction began in the 12th century, but virtually nothing remains of the original structure. The construction of its current facade and bell tower began in 1544. It has been a historical monument since 1906.
This cathedral is in the upper part of the city, if we start going down we will find the Denis Papin staircase. But it is better to see it from below and from a distance, the image of it is spectacular. Decorated with the image of the Gioconda we found it, it was like this from April to October 2019, for the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo Da Vinci.
The lower town also has a lot of charm, with cafes, bars and restaurants to spend a very pleasant time. Blois has a very special charm, that authenticity that not all cities have. Walking through its streets leads you to discover buildings that show the passage of time, cobblestones, narrow passages, in short, a delight.
So we arrived at the other church of the city, the Saint Nicolas church, which was built in 1138 and declared a historical monument in 1840.
Let yourself be carried away by the route, both the high and the low part and surely your steps will take you to the river.
Was it a good choice to stay in Blois? Yes, we enjoyed it a lot, but wait until you see the other cities and then you will have doubts.
AMBOISE
Only 35 kilometers from Blois and 25 km from Tours, we find this medieval city on the banks of the Loire.
The Royal Castle of Amboise dominates the city, and is the first wonderful view we get of it. Known as the pearl of the Touraine, it is the last resting place of Leonardo Da Vinci, who was invited by the king to reside in the castle of Clos Lucé and was buried in the Royal Castle.
As soon as we arrived, we realized that this would have been a perfect city to stay in because of its beauty and proximity to the most famous castles of the Loire, but… more than Blois, we still don’t know. Follow this story as we walk through its streets and draw your conclusions with the images we leave you here.
With the car parked in a parking lot next to the river, we began our walk through the city. We quickly came across the 15th century Clock Tower, the old entrance gate.
With two castles to visit, such as the Royal Castle and Clos Lucé, the latter with the added bonus of having an exhibition on Leonardo Da Vinci, Amboise is not only charming but also very convenient to stay and be able to visit them at your leisure.
The pedestrian zone next to the castle is surrounded by cafes, bars and restaurants, where taking time to eat and rest is very attractive.
And then, Blois or Ambois, difficult choice, the prices of accommodation, at least on the dates we were looking for, were almost at par. A difference between the two, perhaps Amboise is a little more touristic than Blois . But I would also choose it as a place to stay.
SEARCH FOR ACCOMMODATION IN AMBOISE
TOURS
At 25 kilometers from the previous Amboise we find this beautiful city, classified as a city of art and history. Tours is located between the Loire and Cher rivers, was a Gallo-Roman settlement and is currently a university town. For the latter is that we find a lot of movement in it.
The Plumerau square is the heart of the historic district, around it you will see the typical 15th century half-timbered houses, and a great atmosphere with bars and restaurants. Remember that this is a university town, so this district is called the students’ quarter.
Another highlight in the city is the St. Gatien Cathedral. It was built between 1170 and 1547, I encourage you to enter as it is also very beautiful inside.
It’s pretty, isn’t it?
A few steps from the cathedral we find Colbert street. It is a pedestrian street converted into a restaurant area, you will find tourists and locals at their tables.
In the city we also found the Basilica San Martin de Tours, although in our case we did not have time to visit it.
Tours is also a perfect place to stay as it is very close to the main castles to visit. It is a bigger city than Blois or Ambois which are smaller, but perhaps you can find a little lower prices for accommodation than in the previous ones.
SEARCH FOR YOUR ACCOMMODATION IN TOURS
ANGERS
Although in my opinion, if you want to stay in the middle of the valley I would choose Tours, Amboise or Blois, in fact it is in the latter that we have stayed, in this tour of cities of the Loire can not miss Orleans, Angers or Nantes.
Angers, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has a beautiful castle that we can visit on our tour.
If you haven’t seen our post about the most beautiful castles in the Loire, here it is.
NANTES
And it is here that we end this route through the Loire Valley, or you can start it in your case. We arrived in the city of Nantes, here we already talked about a big, beautiful and interesting city with a lot to see, which deserves a separate article.
Cradle of Jules Verne, it highlights its cathedral, the machines of the island, and the castle of the Dukes of Brittany. This city is a very good option to spend a few days both at the beginning and at the end of your day in the valley.
What other activities can you do in the Loire Valley?
What did you think of this route through the Loire Valley, I recommend you not to miss the video if you want to get a better idea of the visit to the valley.
Extras: MAP & VIDEO
Booking.comNOTE: The information in this article is based on our own experience, being totally objective. This article contains affiliate links.
